The Golden Snake
by helpthehorriblelovethelonely
Summary: Harry Potter is in his muggle neighborhood a few days before his 17th birthday when death eaters come to collect him. He lets them take him willingly, and when he lands on his knees in front of the dark lord, he isn't quite sure what is going to happen next. He expects death, but he gets so much more. Soulmate!AU


Harry potter sat on a swing in the children's playground near 4 privet drive. It was dusk, Harry would have to return soon to prepare dinner, in the meantime, he was just sitting on the swing, lightly swaying with the wind, staring out at the street.

He heard a pop from behind him, but he didn't bother to turn around, when he felt a wand at his neck, he sighed. "Hello professor," he said idly, he felt the man's magic still and fizzle around him.

"Potter," came the deep voice of Severus Snape, "unless you have eyes in the back of your head, there was no way you should have known it was me," he said suspiciously. Harry just shrugged,

"Hello to whoever else is back there, as well," was his only response. He felt the other persons magic still in their surprise, and he couldn't help the small smile that graced his face.

"How did you know there were two of us back here?" Severus asked, poking the tip of his wand into his neck a little harder,

"the same answer as your first question, professor, I could feel the magic." Harry wondered what was going on, if this was a Dumbledore thing or a Voldemort thing, he didn't know.

"You can take the wand off of the back of my neck, you know. I would have gone with you regardless," he hums a little, and he slowly feels the wand release and drop from his neck. Harry stood, still not facing them. "alright, take me away," he said, holding out his arms for the others to grab onto for apparition. He felt two strong people grab him, and then they were gone.

Harry landed on his feet on the marble floor, but he was shoved to his knees by Severus and whoever else was behind him. Harry looked up into the face of a man with deep black hair, bright red eyes, and a smirk plastered on his lips, until he saw Harry, that is.

Harry was currently black and blue, his uncles beating from that morning was still fresh on his skin. He had a black eye that was swollen shut and a split lip, and bruises covering his body, although the handprints around his neck were the most unsettling.

"oh, Hello Marvolo," Harry said politely, looking the other in the eyes, the dark lord just stared at him more.

"I wasn't planning on this being the first thing out of my mouth tonight, but how did you know to call me Marvolo?" he asked, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"Well, I know from experience that you hate the name Thomas Riddle, because it associates you with your muggle father. The Marvolo is the part of your identity that makes you feel powerful, being connected to your Slytherin ancestry, and all." Harry said like it was obvious, and he felt the death eaters eyes all turn to him.

The ones that could see his front gasped, some let out of cries of horror, others in fury. Harry was confused why they cared about his safety so much, wasn't he just here to be killed, after all?

"Well done, Harry, I would have never suspected such thinking from you," Marvolo smirked, Harry couldn't help but smile.

"So, Marvolo, what's the plan for tonight? Are we going to talk and then duel and then you kill me? Are you just gonna Avada me right now? Are we going to talk and then I die?" he asked,

Marvolo frowned at him, and then looked back up at the two still standing behind Harry, holding him down on his knees. "You did not tell the child?" he asked, his voice sounded calm, but you could hear the anger in its under tones.

"I was told to collect the boy, my lord, I was told to do nothing else," came Severus from behind him, "I would have told him, but he came willingly, so there was no need," Marvolo's frown just deepened, before turning back to Harry.

"you thought you were being brought here for me to kill you, and you came willingly?" Marvolo asked, he was very confused at the situation.

"I figured if you didn't do it, Dumbledore was going to do it, and then I figured if neither of you did it, I was just going to do it myself, so what was the point in waiting any longer, y'know?" Harry said so easily, there were a few more quiet gasps from the audience.

"Harry, if you came willingly, why do you look like you've been tossed into a shredder?" Marvolo's voice was softer than Harry had ever heard it, and now it was his turn to be confused.

"Wait, you care enough to ask?" this was obviously the wrong thing to say, as Marvolo's eyes filled with fury. Harry quickly looked down,

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't… I didn't mean to upset you… please just… just kill me and get it over with?" he pleaded, he really hoped he wouldn't be tortured before he was killed.

Harry heard footsteps come towards him, and he swallowed thickly. He felt the two who were holding him down release him, and then a gentle but firm hand pull him up into a standing position. Harry gasped quietly as he was hoisted up, hitting a bruise or two in the process. He looked up to see Marvolo staring at him, and when they locked eyes, he felt a soft push at his mind, Harry opened his barriers without question.

_Harry was standing outside Dumbledore's office with an extendable ear, he was listening to the man talk about how he was using Harry as a weapon to defeat his largest obstacle, and then when the boy had served his purpose, he would be disposed of. Harry reeled in the extendable ear and silently walked away. _

"_FREAK!" came a loud booming voice as its owner stomped around the house. An 8 year-old Harry whimpered, and he tried to scurry back further into his cupboard. His uncle undid all the locks on the door and pulled him out by his shirt, Harry already had what looked like a broken nose and a bruise on his face. The whale of a man slammed the child up against the nearby wall "The vase upstairs is broken! You shattered it while you were cleaning!" Harry tried to stammer out that he hadn't, but his uncle slammed him into the wall again and slapped his face, before shoving him back into the cupboard, "no food for a week, freak!" _

_15 year old Harry sat on the ledge of the astronomy tower, looking up at the sky for a long while, when he looked back down he pulled a razor blade out of his pocket and carefully sliced lines into his wrists, when he felt satisfied, he put the razor away and looked back at the sky, wondering what it would be like to jump. _

_Harry from just this morning stood in the kitchen making breakfast for his 'family', which he did every morning. He let out a quiet cry when he felt something hard hit the back of his head, he turned to find Petunia standing there with her frying pan, "Boy! Breakfast was supposed to be ready 15 minutes ago!" Harry gulped and nodded,_

"_yes, aunt Petunia, I'm sorry," he said, but she only glared at him and walked away. After breakfast, which Harry didn't get to eat, he was sitting in his cupboard, which his uncle had decided to put him back in for this summer. He didn't really fit anymore, but if he curled up into a ball it was comfortable enough. He took a deep breath as he heard footsteps come towards his cupboard, the locks unlocked, and a hand reached in and yanked him out. Vernon yelled something that he wasn't paying attention to, he closed his eyes right in time so he wouldn't have to see the first blow. Straight to the jaw, Harry stumbled backwards, his hand flying towards the side of his face. He made no move to argue, no move to fight back, that only ever made it worse. There were a few more punches to the face, before he was punched in the gut and all the air escaped out of his lungs. He bent over and eventually fell to the ground, where his uncle proceeded to kick him. When his uncle seemed to have all of his anger out, the man left him on the floor as he walked away. Harry got up, cleaned the blood off of his face in the bathroom, and went on to do his chores. _

Marvolo fell back into his own mind with a heaviness that hadn't been there before, he looked down at the boy in front of him and saw how tired he looked. He tried not to show the fury in his face, so as not to scare the boy.

"Harry," he said after a long moment, he waited until the boy in question looked up at him. "I have not summoned you here to kill you, nor torture you," he said softly, and Harry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"then what is it that you want?" he asked, finding himself wobbling as his energy faded quickly.

"I will tell you when you are feeling better," he said easily, he grabbed the shaking teen by his waist and steered him towards the exit, "Severus, Lucius, follow me. Everybody else, go home, I will speak to you in the morning." Marvolo called over his shoulder, letting Harry lean into his side. Harry heard footsteps behind him, he hummed, it must have been Lucius behind him with Severus earlier.

Marvolo led them to a nice bedroom, and he gently led Harry towards the bed to lay down. When Harry finally turned to face the two that had been behind him this whole time, they both gasped loudly. Severus' eyes were wide, and Lucius' hand had flown to his mouth in surprise, Harry just gave them a smile and a weak thumbs up before he did as he was asked by Marvolo and crawled into the bed.

Marvolo turned to his two most trusted friends and followers, "Severus, I need you to bring a full healer's supply of healing potions, and Lucius, I need you to help me with the spell work," he said, and the two nodded. Severus left to go get the potions needed.

"Harry," Marvolo called, noticing Harry was half asleep on the mattress,

"Hmmm?" Harry hummed, opening his eyes slightly to look at him,

"I'm going to have to remove your pants and your shirt, is that okay?"

Harry chuckled "Why Marvolo, I would have expected dinner first, but yes- that is alright" he gave another thumbs up, he laid still so Marvolo could do what he needed to.

Marvolo couldn't help the snort that escaped him, "You are currently lying in the dark lords manor, looking like you've gone through a meat grinder, about to probably be in a lot of pain from the healing we will have to do, and you can still find it in you to crack jokes?" he asked as he slowly pulled the boys t-shirt from his skin, wanting to make sure the fabric wasn't stuck to any open wounds, when he carefully pulled off the bits that were stuck to him, he spelled the shirt and pants away, leaving him in only his boxers.

Harry shivered at the sudden draft and he closed his eyes, Marvolo was staring at him with horror on his face. He was black and blue all over, but not only that, there were various scars that littered the rest of his body. All up his arms were self-harm scars, his hands were covered in burn scars, and down his back were what Marvolo thought looked like scars from a whipping, done with a belt. Marvolo's fury only grew.

"Marvolo," Harry said, his voice slightly slurred from exhaustion, "You are getting angry, Marvolo, I can feel your magic trembling,"

Marvolo gaped at him "How are you so well able to feel peoples magics?" he asked, trying to keep conversation while he started the first of his healing spells to try to keep Harrys mind off of the pain.

"don't know, just can." Was his answer, "I'm wondering what will happen when I turn 17 in a couple of days, if that will change anything at all."

"well, you will get your soul mark, and that usually shifts something inside of your magic," Marvolo continued to speak, he noticed Harrys scrunched up face.

"what is a soul mark?" he asked, his voice quiet.

Marvolo's movements stilled, his anger spiked, but he reigned it back in. "You do not know what a soul mark is?" he asked, his voice gentle. He healed a nasty looking gash on Harry's side, he heard the boy hiss in pain, he shushed him gently.

"No, if I did, I wouldn't be so confused, at least, I hope I wouldn't be." Harry teases himself, Marvolo hums as Severus comes back in with the potions.

"Soul marks are marks you get on your 17th birthday, it could be anything, a name, a symbol, a phrase, a quote. It is to help you find your soulmate." Marvolo explained, grabbing some potions and making Harry sit up to take them, Harry did as he was told. When he was laid back down, he spoke again,

"I thought soulmates were fairytales," he admits, "is that a wizard thing? Nobody has told me really anything about the wizarding world, they seem to forget I was raised by muggles in a house where saying the word 'magic' got you a beating."

Harry felt the magics in the air shift and he opened his eyes, seeing Marvolo looking furious over at Severus, who was looking guilty but also horrified. "Why are you looking at him like that?" Harry asked the dark lord.

Marvolo snapped out of his evil glare and looked down at Harry, "Severus here has been your teacher for the past 6 years, and has somehow neglected to notice your home situation? Has neglected to tell you anything about our world?" he said it like it was a question, but it most certainly wasn't.

Harry hummed "Don't be mad at him, I was casting glamour's with accidental magic for the first few years back at Hogwarts, until I learned the spell myself and applied them. He didn't have to teach me about the wizarding world, that wasn't his job. His job was to teach us potions and spy on Dumbledore, he didn't need the added stress a stupid 11 year old brings about," he answered, this just made Marvolo glare at Severus more, who took a step back.

Harry looked between the two and is about to say something when Marvolo dipped his fingers into some bruise salve and started to apply it gently to the bruises around his face. Harry closed his eyes and hummed quietly; his magic thrummed around him as well. Lucius and Severus looked at each other and then left the room, they weren't needed anymore.

Marvolo smiled as the smaller man in front of him seemed to melt at the touches, and when he felt the others magic radiate safety, he couldn't help the warmth that spread through his chest. He worked for a little while longer, Marvolo applying burn and bruise salve all over, as well as grabbing a scar salve, but Harry stopped him, "what's that?" he asked, not recognizing the potion.

"it is for your scars," Marvolo answered, cocking his head to the side a small bit, "it will take them away within the next 24 hours, is that okay?" he asked.

Harry started crying quietly and Marvolo looked down at him in worry, "Are you okay? I didn't mean-" but Harry cut him off, "that's more than alright," he smiled through his tears.

Marvolo seemed to understand then, and he took some of the salve and applied it to Harry wherever scars were lingering, including his lightning bold and the self-harm scars on his wrists. Once Marvolo was finished with that, they were finished completely. Marvolo pulled away and noticed how late it had gotten based on how dark it was outside the window. "Harry," he called softly, Harry looked up at him, "Why don't you sleep now, you have had a rough day," he said softly, moving the hair out of Harry's eyes. Harry chuckled weakly,

"Marvolo, I've had a rough life," he responded, but he snuggled into the comfortable bed and the warm blankets.

Marvolo smiled sadly down at him, "I hope to change that," he whispered, leaving the room and turning off the light with a flick of his wand.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Harry awoke the next day sore but pretty okay, he spent most of the day in bed at both Marvolo's and Severus orders, except to get up and eat meals. Now it was that night, and Harry couldn't sleep, he was going to be 17 in a few hours, how could he sleep?

Harry was wide awake up until about 11:45 pm, at that point his magic started to lull him to sleep, knowing it would be easier to make the changes while he slept. Harry fell asleep at what he thought was when the clock struck midnight, because he felt a wave of magic encircle him before he was out.

Harry woke up the next morning and could instantly tell something had changed. Harry's hair had grown down to his midback, and it was straight and smooth. He could tell just from moving that he had gained a few inches at least, and he noticed he didn't need his glasses anymore. Harry got up and padded over to the adjacent bathroom, he gaped at himself in the mirror. Harry still looked like Harry, but just a… better looking version, a more adult version. Harry thought that he looked more in his mid 20's than 17, and if he was honest, he felt like it to, like his magic had evolved over night. He smiled at himself, he liked the new look. He remembered what Marvolo had said about soul marks and he suddenly started looking around his body for any sign of one.

Just as he was about to give up and come to terms with that he didn't have a soulmate, Harry found the mark on the small of his back, he had to hop up onto the edge of the counter in order to look at it with the bathroom mirror, but he saw it. It was gold, and if he remembered what Marvolo told him, that meant that his soulmate was alive and well and had already turned 17.

He had to wiggle weirdly in order to see from a good angle what his mark was, his mouth fell open in amazement as he saw a snake slumbering in a pile on his back, when she realized she was being acknowledge, she woke up, Harry gasped as her red eyes peered back at him in the mirror. **"good morning, speaker," **it hissed at him pleasantly before nestling back down in on herself. As she moved, Harry noticed 3 small letters that were on her belly almost like scales. TMR.

Harry frowned, he felt like he knew why those letters were important, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. he shook his head, smiling as the long hair fell in front of his face. He went over to the closet that Marvolo had filled for him and picked out a pair of robes that Harry thought would look nice. He then walked down to the dining room to meet Marvolo for breakfast, which the man had told him to do the night before.

Harry walked into the dining room, somehow finding it without getting lost. He looked around and he stopped when he saw Marvolo bent over some papers. "a dark lords work is never done, I see," he joked, and when red eyes finally looked up at him, he could see his breath hitch, and he felt as Marvolo's magic came out to mingle with his and fit together like missing puzzle pieces. Marvolo stood, his eyes never left Harrys as he made his way over. "good morning, Marvolo," Harry hummed, smiling up at the Slytherin,

"good morning, Harry," Marvolo smiled, "may I show you why I summoned you to my home the other night?" and at Harrys nod Marvolo unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it over. Directly over his heart was a lion sleeping. When he felt Harry's eyes on him, he looked up, bright green eyes glowing back at him. the lion rolled over onto it's back, and on its belly were the initials HJP. Harry finally remembered why TMR was so important.

Harry's breath hitched at the gold lion, and he reached out like he was going to touch it, but he stopped himself. Marvolo buttoned his shirt back up, "may I see?" he asked softly, Harry nodded and took off his outer robes, he lifted up his t-shirt so Marvolo could see the snake nestled happily into herself, she peeked up at tom with one opened red eye **"other speaker," **she greeted before going back to sleep. Marvolo didn't hesitate like Harry did, he reached out and ran his fingers along the mark, Harry gasped, a surge of magic rushed out of him, pushing Marvolo back just a bit. Harry pulled his shirt down and when he turned around, he found Marvolo much closer than he had been even a few minutes ago.

"Harry," Marvolo whispered, all Harry could do was look up at him, staring into his eyes. Then Marvolo leaned forward and captured their lips together, Harry melted into Marvolo's touch, his magic humming around him. He felt as the dark lords arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer. Harry wrapped his arms around the others neck and buried his fingers in his hair. When they pulled away Marvolo was smiling, "I have been waiting nearly 70 years to do that," he whispered, resting their foreheads together.

Harry undid the top few buttons of Marvolo's shirt and started to gently trace the lines of the lion, he felt a vibration and he wondered if it was purring. "you've had your mark sense your 17th birthday," Harry mumbled, "but it didn't turn gold until today, did it?" he already knew the answer, but he wanted to ask anyway.

Marvolo hummed "For a while, it was just the outline done in a shade only slightly darker than my skin tone. He was there, but you were not alive, so your soul did not exist to be my mate yet. When you were born, it turned silver, taunting me that now you were alive, and still I would not be able to have you," he brought his hand up to cup the others cheek.

"when I went after you when you were a baby, I did not know that it was you, that I was trying to kill my soulmate, that's why the curse rebounded off of you, my magic couldn't dare kill its mate," he ran his thumb along Harrys cheek bone. "I was crazy for a while, as I got older and my mark still told me you hadn't been born, I wanted to make sure I didn't die before I got to meet you, so I made all the horcruxes. I am whole now because I destroyed them all, and I am human again." Marvolo brushed his lips over Harrys, like a wisp of air.

"I'm sorry I hadn't come along sooner," Harry found himself whispering back, tightening his grip on his soulmate as if he would disappear at any moment. Marvolo just chuckled softly, "it is alright, my love," he kissed the place on his forehead where his lightning bolt used to be but was now gone thanks to the scar salve.

"that is why I had my most trusted bring you here, because I knew you would be 17 soon, and I knew I would finally get to have you as my own," Marvolo's hand came and rested on the small of Harrys back, which made Harry purr. "I do not want you to have to continue this stupid fight, love. I ask you to stay out of it. You have no scar, and your magical signature has changed, and you look nothing like you did, I dare say you would be unrecognizable to anybody who hadn't known that you are you,"

Harry leaned in and nuzzled his soulmates neck, humming while he did, "I would love nothing more than to just stay out of this, and sit pretty by your side as your bride,"

Marvolo grinned and moved his loves head out of his neck so he could kiss him fiercely, "and you will be the prettiest bride of them all."


End file.
